Friday, July 12, 2013

Hipster Babies.

It's baby making season.  It seems everyone I know is pregnant or just had a baby.  My best friend's brother had a baby boy and since I was going up north to visit, I thought I would make a baby present for him.  My friend's brother used to really like traffic cones.  Really, really like them.  Sooo, I decided to turn his baby into one.

I used the Silhouette.  The Boyfriend bought it for me for my birthday and I've made some pretty cool things.  I'll post more of my paper crafts another time.  For the onesie, I modified a clipart image and cut it out of freezer paper.  I then ironed it on the onesies and painted the cone with fabric paint.  

Here's my creation:



My sister is also pregnant with her first, so I thought I would embellish some onesies for her. I found the spaceship patches at a Japanese store called DAISO.  That place is amazing!  It's a $1.50/item "99cent Store" selling only Japanese products.  



The mustache was an iron-on I had left over from a t-shirt I made for my niece.  On the light blue onesie, I drafted a tiny pocket with a scrap of fabric from a shirt project I'm working on for my dad's belated birthday/father's day present.



That's it.  Silly, crafty onesies for hip babies.


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Winner, winner, Chicken Dinner.



And the winner of the Giveaway is:

emmalemma!

Email me your address and I'll pop the magazine in the mail!



Wednesday, July 3, 2013

A "Thank You" Giveaway!

I promised a giveaway (probably multiple times) and now I'm finally following through.  I've been wanting to give away something GOOD!

The place I get my Burda magazines is this tiny German deli.  The lady who owns it  lets me peruse the magazines (she keeps them behind the counter) and the older ones are always half off.  Lately when I come in, she gives me FREE older Burdas.  The older ones always have the top of the cover cut off, but the insides are still good!


I already have this one, so I'm giving it to one of you!  I think it has some really nice patterns in it and almost all of them are still fashionable.  

To win this magazine:

1) You must be a follower!  It's a "Thanks for Reading" giveaway after all. 
2) Leave a comment.  I don't care about what.  Surprise me.
3) You can live anywhere in the world.  
4) You must comment before Sunday July 7th at 11:59pm.  I will randomly pick a winner on Tuesday July 9th.  

Good luck!


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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Just What I Needed...Floral Tank: Simplicity 1693


I needed an quick project.  An easy one to cleanse my palate of the Boyfriend's shirt.  I went through my patterns and chose Simplicity 1693.  Then I went through my stash and found a rayon challis strike-off I got at the swapmeet.  I got 2 yards for $2.  Woohoo!  I originally thought I would make a dress using this fabric, but never paired it with the right pattern.

I chose view F.  I used french seams throughout and made my own self bias binding to finish the neckline and the armholes.  Without the collar, the top was sort of boring.  I decided to make spaghetti like I did for one of my first projects in school.   The spaghetti straps could have been stuffed a little more, but I think they are alright.  I hand-sewed the spaghetti straps in a swirly pattern and added pearl buttons.  Here is a close-up of the neckline:



 The instructions had you make a button loop with thread.  Mine's slightly too big for the button so it slips off the button sometimes.  And the close-up of the back:


If I make this view again, I might try the collar and I would shorten the back a little.  It is quite long on little ol' me.  I definitely want to try the other views.





Thanks to my newest followers!  190!  Woohoo!

Cat
Susan Partlan

Giveaway next time :)


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(For the record, I love Feedly, but I'm doubling up, just in case.)

Monday, June 17, 2013

Teaching the Boyfriend to Sew: Constellation Dinosaurs!

The Boyfriend has been interested in my sewing as of late and wanted to work on a project with me.  When I was in school he was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and helped label my pattern pieces, trace off my markers, cut out the pieces and iron fabric.  He even seam ripped once or twice because I didn't have time.  He saved me hours of work and never complained.

I asked him back in December I think if he wanted to make himself a pair of pajama pants.  He did and we worked on them together.  He chose the fabric.  Constellation dinosaurs!

The Boyfriend laid out the pattern, helped cut it out (we did it together to save time), pinned and sewed the pjs.  I showed him how to pin a little bit on one side and then he would do the other side.  I sewed a bit, and then he finished.  Honestly, he made the pjs almost entirely by himself.  He even serged all his seam allowances. I stitched the elastic ends together and I also hemmed the legs.  That's it.

I think he did a great job!

These pictures were taken after many, many wears and washes.  They shrunk a little, even though I pre-shrunk the fabric in hot water.




Our next project together will probably be a baby quilt for my sister's baby.  She's due in October.  We have a little time to work on it. :)

Thanks to my newest Follower:  Kayleigh!


Sunday, June 9, 2013

A little bit of Home Dec.

After I moved,  The Boyfriend and got a lot of new furniture and set up the apartment.  My favorite new piece of furniture was my couch and I was super excited to make my own throw pillows.  I drafted a very simple pillow case with a square for the front and 2 overlapping rectangles for the back so I could easily remove the pillow and wash the cases.  I decided it would be fun to break in my brand new serger I got for my birthday (back in January) to construct the pillows.  My new serger is a Babylock Imagine.  It works so well.  I love how easy it is to use and the feet are really cool also.

The fabric is a vintage barkcloth-like fabric I got at an estate sale my mom and I stopped at on a whim after seeing a sign on the side of the street.  I was originally going to use it for dining room chair covers, but decided to use it for pillows instead.  One day, if I have a kitchen with a small window over the sink, I will use the rest to make a curtain.  I thought it would be cool to pipe around the pillow and found the perfect red-orange vintage piping in the stash.  Unfortunately, I did not have enough for both pillows. I went to Joann's to try to find a match, but the red piping there was not a close match.  I chose a light lime green instead.

Like I said, I used the serger to make the pillows.  The piping foot is awesome.  It worked perfectly!





Monday, June 3, 2013

Birthday Shirt for the Boyfriend

The Boyfriend's birthday was at the end of April so I decided as one of his birthday gifts, I would make him a shirt.  I had the fabric picked out since last summer or fall, and was going to make the shirt for Christmas, but ran out of time.  Oh well, he now has a winter shirt just in time for summer.  :-P

I used the Colette Patterns Negroni Shirt again.  Here is the last shirt I made with this pattern.  This time I made the long sleeve version in a beautiful brushed cotton woven plaid.  Another swapmeet purchase for $1.50/yd.  Can you believe that?  If you could feel the fabric through your monitor, I think you would be impressed.

I followed the directions exactly this time, I even felled the sleeves and side seams.  The instructions for doing so are quite good.  Much better than I expected!  I only have two complaints with the pattern.  The first is that the area on the shoulder where the facing joins up with the collar is quite thick and bulky.  I trimmed and graded my SAs, but there is still some bulk.  Second, I think the sleeves are drafted long.  Or the Boyfriend has Tyrannosaurus Rex arms, but I'm fairly certain they are a normal length.  I really should have measured the sleeves beforehand, but I forgot and I also wanted to keep the shirt a surprise.  Every time I worked on the shirt, I meticulously cleaned up so he would not see what I was making.  Because the sleeves are a couple inches too long, he prefers to wear the sleeves rolled.  It looks cute that way, so I don't mind. :)




The cuffs, outer yoke, and pocket are cut on the bias.  I matched up the fronts and sides pretty well, but the sides could be better.  I'm totally pissed that I cut the back piece slightly off grain.  I hate that you can tell because it is a plaid shirt.

Overall, I'm proud of the shirt and the Boyfriend says he loves it.  He's worn it more than I wear my own self-made clothes.

Thanks to my newest Follower, Danette!



Monday, May 27, 2013

The Wedding Guest Dress


The Boyfriend's sister got married in Mexico at the end of October and I decided to make my dress to wear to the wedding.  I chose Simplicity 1873 because it was vintage-y and looked pretty simple to construct.  The bride instructed me to only wear certain colors, but I ended up in none of the pictures so it didn't matter either way.  I didn't follow her color instructions, so maybe that's why I wasn't in the photos.  Hahah.  








I chose a vintage cotton blend for the self and a cotton broadcloth for the lining.  I chose to fully line the dress.  I fit the bodice one evening a few days before the wedding and made a few changes.  I had to do a sloping shoulder adjustment, but I forgot to lower the armhole so it is a little snug.  I am super proud of matching the print at the CB.  I only noticed the front hiking after I took these photos!  I know what to fix if I ever make this again.


Look at my pretty hem.  I serged the edge and catchstitched it.  The lining was 3-thread overlocked with a very large SPI so it looks like a satin stitch.



























Overall, I'm happy with the dress.  It was freakin' hot in Mexico, and the dress was sweaty, but hopefully I'll never have to wear it in humid weather again.  I need to find a way to style this dress so I can wear it to work.  Suggestions?


Tuesday, May 21, 2013

I Owe You a Post: New Look 6130

Hi Everyone!

I can't believe how long it has been since I've posted on here.   I moved 2 days after my last entry in January and it's been a little hectic around here since then.  The Boyfriend, Pearl, and I moved into a cute 2 bedroom apartment closer to both of our jobs.  I have a dedicated sewing room, but it took me 2 months to get my life together and set up the room!  One day, when it is cleaner, I'll take some pictures. I haven't sewn all that much, but I have some projects from last fall that I'm going to post.  I'm so tired after work and on the weekends I like to spend my time with the Boyfriend because our work schedules are out of sync and I never see him in the evenings when I get home.  He keeps encouraging me to start blogging again so here I am.

Okay, so my last sewing related post was about NL 6130.  And here's what I made:









I seriously can't remember much about the construction of this top.  The fabric is a poly. crepe that was a pain to cut and sew.  I'm fairly happy with the fit though.  I did some contouring to get a closer fit.  The invisible zip was pretty darn easy to insert and the hem took a very long time to do, but I am very pleased with my baby hem.

Not sure if I would make this again, maybe in a ponte knit and I would change the neckline and the peplum style.  I did get a few unsolicited compliments at work though.  One from my boss who is an expert patternmaker, seamstress, and fit specialist.


In spite of my lack of blogging, thanks to my new followers:

Eliane
Danielle
Sarah C
la_magnifique

Also, I had my blog anniversary about a month ago.  I've been blogging for 3 years.  That is a long time!

I'll post a giveaway soon (I promise this time!!!).








Friday, January 11, 2013

Should I even keep blogging???

I've decided that I suck at blogging.  I'm sorry readers, but since college I haven't had to write much and my skills have deteriorated.  I thought blogging would help, but it did not. I thought I would enjoy making tutorials and sharing new information that I learned in school and at work.  Tutorial writing is a pain in the ass!  Those of you who do it know how tedious it is and I think you are AMAZING for creating them.    I'm also just not motivated to write anymore.  I do like tracking my projects, but it is very hard when I wait so long to post.  

I think I'm going to keep the blog going for a while longer.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

Just because...
Despite my absence from the blogosphere, I have 6 new Followers:

Hot Mess Heifer
BigChoc
Jenny
Kat Campbell
Kathy of Kathy Sews:  She made some cute dresses and has a giveaway going on!
elianeBatalha

Thanks Ladies!